No more snow days? Central Pa. teachers warmly accept the flexible time

Some central Pennsylvania administrators already have been spurred into early planning now that school districts will have the option to conduct “flexible school days.”

"With our rural location, we know we can’t rely solely on virtual content,” Juniata County School District Interim Superintendent Christie Holderman said Wednesday. “We will need to use additional resources.”

Under the new law that was signed Tuesday by Gov. Tom Wolf, districts could allow students as many as five days in a school year to study from home during extenuating circumstances such as severe weather events, building repairs or when threats are made to schools. It applies to public school districts as well as charter schools and parochial schools. All are required to apply for a permit issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. That permit lasts three years.

In a typical school year, students have historically missed up to five school days or more of classes due to snow, Holderman said. School was closed nine times during the 2018-19 calendar year because of inclement weather.

Administrators there are already charting out how they would manage a flexible school day. The administration is hoping to share its plans with the community soon.

"This new legislation should help to alleviate changes that we have to make to our school calendar during the year,” Holderman continued. The newly passed law allows school districts to avoid delaying the end of the school year to make up for snow days. That has often been a point of contention between school districts and families who plan for graduations and vacations.

The next steps would be to update the school calendar with flexible instruction days as well as update district policy, which both have to be approved by the school board, Holderman explained.

The measure passed with much support. The state Department of Education tested it for three years in a pilot program at several schools, including Central York and Red Lion school districts in York County.

The positive feedback garnered the backing of the state’s largest teachers’ union.

"It provides schools with the tools they need to ensure that student learning is not interrupted by inclement weather or an unplanned school closure,” Pennsylvania State Education Association spokesman Christopher Lilienthal said.

PSEA liked the provisions that ensures both “students’ and teachers’ technological needs are taken into account.”

"PSEA advocated for this during the legislative process because we feel it is important to remember that not every educator or student will have access to a computer or the internet at home,” he said.

Last September, Central York School District Superintendent Michael Snell told PennLive the flexible day experiment met with “rave reviews” from teachers and parents. The district planned ahead to use a flexible day when there was snow forecasted. For children in kindergarten through third grade, teachers had them take home books and gave them math work they could do at home. In the upper grades, the teachers loaded assignments into computers so students who didn’t have Internet service at home could download them before they went home the day before.

"This is a win-win,” East Pennsboro Area School District Superintendent Donna M. Dunar said. “It will keep our students and employees safe and allow the district to maintain its annual calendar.”

But before districts apply for a permit, school board members will discuss what it means to have the authority to allow students to complete assignments from home.

Cumberland Valley School District board president Heather Dunn said the board has not yet discussed whether it would like to offer flexible instruction days, but she expects conversations will begin in the fall.

"I’m sure this is going to be a top agenda item,” Dunn said.

PennLive intern Kate Bellows contributed to this story.

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